There For You
by aprlshowers
Summary: Cis! Girl Destiel in high school. Cass first meets Dee in sophomore year of high school and became fast friends. The girls go though trying times their senior year and learn they might just be more.
1. Prologue Tiny Heart

_Hello. So if you are reading this, thanks. It's my first real chaptered fic and I'm not quite sure how it will be received. I got the idea from reading another fic where Gabriel calls Cas 'Cassie' which reminded me of the Flyleaf song. Then I got inspiration from that song and the majority of the first Flyleaf album. But yeah, tell me if you like it. Or not. It's cool. FYI: Deanna is pronounced De-anna in my head. But it keeps switching from that to Dee-na, which makes no sense._

_Disclaimer: Neither the characters nor the songs belong to me, okay. I'm glad we got that covered. XD_

* * *

Prologue: Tiny Heart

_Sophomore year_

Cassie stood in the girl's bathroom washing her hands just before the first period bell rings, line still forming and girls hogging the electrical plugs and the three mirrors to finish getting their looks ready before class starts. _Sigh. _No matter the school, this act is typical. She ran her fingers through her straightened black hair and then noticed something falling from the ledge of the sink next to her. Thinking fast, she grabbed the mascara tube at mid- fall. Cassie turned and motioned to hand over the mascara to its owner. "He-," She paused when she catches bright green eyes smiling down at her, a light smile gracing her face, "Nice catch."

Those simple words made the butterflies she didn't know existed flutter around in her stomach. Cassie gives the blonde girl a quick smile in response and flicks the excess water off her hands in the sink and then left, weaving her way out of the bathroom as calmly as possible. As she headed in the direction of her first class, Cassie tried to avoid running into people while her mind replayed the smile and the hypnotizing eyes of the anonymous girl.

* * *

By fourth period, Cassie's mind started to pay attention (to her dismay) to the drone of her Algebra II teacher as he went over inequalities. In between taking notes, her hand would stray to the corner of the page to draw eyes, trying to perfect the eyes that glanced at her this morning_. Maybe she will be there tomorrow morning… Maybe I can get her name._

* * *

Cassie doesn't even take notes in Latin I. She knows it near fluently since her grandfather works as a professor in religious studies at the University of Kansas, so Latin I was kind of pointless. Sitting in the second to last row, she started doodling eyes again; much better than first period's eyes for sure. The eyes take on a life of their own as she adds swirls of color in and around them. "Nice eyes."

She jumped and quickly tried to cover the art with her hands, a bright red blush appearing on her cheeks even though the stranger can't possibly know who possesses those eyes. Cassie glanced over her shoulder to give a response when she noticed familiar straight blonde hair.

The anonymous leaned back into her seat, "Art is cool, I guess, if you're into that stuff. Oh! Aren't you the girl with the fast reflexes?" Cassie nodded once as the butterflies that died out started back up again, only ten times worse since the girl is actually talking to her. "I've never see you around, are you-"

"Deanna, keep it down please."

"You bet'cha teach," she responded in a snarky tone and a fake smile.

Cassie turned back around and closed her eyes to gain composure. _Breathe, breathe._ When she calmed down, her thoughts focus on the name the teacher called. _Deanna. Hmmm... Deanna. Well that was easier than I thought._ Cassie spent the rest of the period lost in her thoughts and barely noticed the bell ringing. The tap on her left shoulder snapped her out of her trance. "Hey, the bell rang."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks," Cassie shuffled to get her things quickly packed. She looked up and saw that Deanna was waiting for her, sitting on the desk she was just using earlier, leaning back and using her hands to hold her up. Her tan, toned legs crossed left over right. Standing right in front of her, you couldn't tell she is wearing shorts since they were so short. Cassie's mouth dried out. It didn't help that she's wearing well fitted wife-beater and tied up red plaid shirt as well.

"Oh, you are not mute. Good. One- sided conversations are hard."

Cassie laughed a little at this, which eased some of the nervousness she had. She swallowed a bit so her voice sounded normal. "Why would you think that?"

They walked together in the same direction. Cassie had lunch next, so she didn't really care where she went. "Well, you haven't said much... but I guess you never really got the chance. So, anyways, what's your name new girl?"

"I'm Cassie," she replied with a shy smile, "And you're Deanna?"

_Stupid! Of course she is. _

"Please," taking a quick glance at Cassie," Call me Dee. Only my dad and teachers call me Deanna."

"Alright... Dee." Another shy smile spread across Cassie's face as they both walked in the direction of the lunch lines.

"Do you have lunch next too?"

Cassie's heart began to speed in hope that, not only would she not sit alone, but she would also get to continue to talk to Dee, even though her nerves would not allow her to eat without hurling.

"Yeah."

"Wanna skip? It's not like this place is a five star restaurant. We could go to the Wendy's down the street."

Her jaw dropped at the suggestion. "Bu- but won't we get in trouble?" Her voice was shaky. Breaking the rules, even if they were just school rules, is a huge "no" in Cassie's book. But no matter how stupid it sounded, even in her own head, Cassie wanted to be accepted by Dee; if no one else, her.

"Nah, I do it every day. Just act like it's what you're supposed to be doing and you won't get caught." Dee shared a quick smile and then grabbed Cassie's elbow pulling her in the direction of the door closest to the main road, " Come on, we have to leave before the bell rings!"

Cassie followed Dee quickly. They stashed their bookbags in Dee's car and walked calmly in the direction of the Wendy's. The spot where Dee grabbed Cassie is still warm... well at least in Cassie's mind it is.

* * *

_One week later_

"Really? A Professor? That's how you know so much Latin."

Cassie nodded then took a sip from her water bottle. "Yeah, instead of Disney and nursery rhymes, my family read me old stories in Latin," she shrugged," What are you going to do?"

Dee shrugged in response. Dee and Cassie hung out almost every day since they met. It was nice to have a friend at a new school, even if she did have a hidden crush on her. She really enjoyed Dee's company; Cassie hadn't opened up to people since her father left her at her grandparents about a year and a half ago and never came back, Dee is the only exception.

Just as Dee was about to say something, a girl walked with purpose to the two girls leaning against the door of what Dee told her was an Impala. "Vanessa. What do you want?"

The girl named Vanessa finally reached them and with the palm of her hand, audibly smacked Dee on her right cheek which left it light pink but was still growing more red.

Cassie automatically went on the defense yelling at Vanessa as Dee rubbed her cheek a bit, " What the heck was that for?"

Vanessa paid no attention to Cassie's question, keeping focus on her prey. "Stay away from my boyfriend you slut!"

"Who? Louis? Well tell him to keep his dick in his pants and you won't have a problem."

Cassie's heart sank. _No. I- It can't be true..._

"Plus, he was begging for it. Begging. Who am I to say no?" Dee smirked but held a teasingly innocent gaze at Vanessa's glare.

Cassie's jaw dropped in shock. She wasn't lying. Dee was perfectly calm during the whole ordeal, like she was used to this happening, it had to be the truth.

"You're testing me bitch."

"You wanna hit me?" Dee moved up and turned her left cheek forward, "Do it. Hit me."

Vanessa clenched her hands into fists and stormed away. Dee smiled in a gratified manner and folded her arms hands against her chest, "Thought so."

Dee turned her attention back to her, "Sorry about that Cass, what were we talking about?"

She faced Dee, still slack-jawed, with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her head cocked slightly to the right. "Did you- d-did you really sleep with her boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Twice actually."

"Twice!" Cassie's chest tightened. _Of course...Straight._ "But why," she asked incredulously.

Dee leaned against the car casually and shrugged, "He's hot and I like sex."

Cassie's face must have not translated her hurt feelings properly because of Dee's accusatory response, "What? Is that a problem? Are you going to stop being friends with me because I'm the school slut?"

The anger and hurt poured from her eyes and stung Cassie. She wondered why Dee didn't have many friends, but then it made sense. No one would want to be friends with someone who could possibly steal their boyfriends.

It would be completely selfish of her to stop being friends with her just because she couldn't have her the way she wanted to. No. Dee needed a friend. If that's all that Cassie could be then she will.

Any emotions displayed on her face were quickly replaced with empathy. She reached out and placed a gentle hand where her arms folded which startled Dee from her anger. She released her arms and Cassie grabbed her hand and held it tight, "Deanna Winchester. I will never stop being friends with you."

A weak and grateful smile spread across Dee's face as Cassie gently squeezed her hand and released it, returning a warm smile. _I don't think I could._


	2. Chapter 1: Red Sam

_Okay, so FINALLY! Here is chapter one. Sorry it took so long, it took me a while to get my thoughts down and clear. Thanks to the people who got alerts for this story and my beta, Mandi ( I LOVE YOUU and) I appreciate you greatly :) Thanks for reading!_

_I alert now, TRIGGER WARNING: Child abuse and self hatred. _

_And the Disclaimer: These characters do NOT belong to me and neither do the songs. Ownership goes to the CW and Flyleaf. _

* * *

Chapter One: Red Sam

_Early summer before senior year_

"Cass, I seriously do not know what I would use calc for in my future. That's why I didn't ask for it, okay? I might actually graduate. Why jinx it?" Dee adjusted her position to lie on her stomach, her head facing the end of her bed.

"Okay. Fine. Well, at least we have home economics together."

"Hell, yeah! Free food!"

Dee could hear Cass huff in amusement. Cass wasn't one to speak much, but they got each other. It had always been that way, since they first met. They were more than best friends, they were sisters. She didn't know what was going to happen after senior year but she wanted to make the most of it; they planned to take a few classes together before they were let loose into the real world. Dee wasn't sure about college, she wasn't even sure if she was going to graduate really, but she was taking it all in stride.

A flash from headlights turning into Dee's driveway reflected off of the mirror adjacent to the window behind her bed. Dee grimaced, "Hey, I gotta go. See you tomorrow at Gina's party?"

"Yeah! Don't forget your bathing suit this time."

"What? I had a great time at the last party!"

"You took off your clothes to swim in a lace bra and matching G-string… And then you slept with that guy from art class!"

"Mmm… He was really good with his hands…" she smirked knowing Cass could hear though the phone.

"GOODNIGHT, Dee."

"Night, babe!"

Dee smiled to herself. Teasing Cass was just so easy. _My sweet, innocent baby penguin._

The front door slammed shut and uneven footsteps fumbled across the hallway. She rolled her eyes. _Seriously, who let him drive home like that?_ Walking over to her door, she leaned against the door frame as she spoke, "Hey dad, I left your plate in the microwave if you're hungry!"

Dee just got a grunt in response and heard the refrigerator door open from the rattle of jars and containers. She walked over to her hand-me-down black walnut drawers to fish out her green and white striped bikini, placing it on her counter so she doesn't forget it. Most of the furniture and jewelry she owned was her mothers, like the drawers, which her father made for her mom when they first got the house. Most of the time it was a comfort to be surrounded by her mother's old things, but sometimes it made her wish she had a mother figure around. A frustrated growl came from downstairs and the refrigerator slammed shut. _Fuck. Not again._ Bracing herself for the explosion, she turned her attention to her door.

John Winchester raced up the stairs heading straight for Dee's room with a crazed look in his eyes. "Where is it?"

He hurled the door open and it crashed against the wall, her father looking ready to pounce.

It wasn't always this way. She could still remember the time before her mother died. Sam was barely a year old so he had no memory, but she remembered. She remembered him coming home and playing dolls with her or having a tea party that her mom set up. She remembered the fair they went to when she was three where he won her a giant stuffed Tweety bird that still sat in the corner with the three other stuffed animals she has. She remembered his happy smile when he found out that they were going to have Sammy. He never smiled after her mom died in that fire at the church with Aunt Karen. He drank and smoked weed to dull the pain. It was a miracle Sam and her survived; luckily Uncle Bobby took it better than her father did.

Now this was her life; keeping Sam and herself alive while dealing with a father who was worth a sack of potatoes.

"I said, where is it?"

"If you are talking about your alcohol then I have no idea, okay? Maybe you drank it all!"

John ran up to her, navigating the piles of clothes in front of him impressively for all his drunkenness and grabbed her jaw with his right hand. The force of his hand pushing her back against the open drawers that bit into her lower back angrily, the top of the drawers dug underneath her right shoulder. "Get. Off. Of me. You pathetic. Drunk," she announced angrily.

"Are you lying to me?" His grip on her jaw became tighter, pulling her towards him and then ramming her back into the drawers, "ARE YOU?"

Dee clenched her jaw and answered through closed teeth, "I didn't touch your fucking beer!" She grabbed a hold of her father's shoulders and pushed him back, "Get the fuck out of my room. Now." Her voice was stern as she held her ground. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but it was the first time in a long time she could come out of it with bruises.

"You watch your language around me missy or you'll be kicked out of this house faster than you can say Sackagaweeeuh!"

"Oh yeah? And who is going to be here to clean or make food or wash your puke stained clothes, huh? Cause it won't be Sam!"

John's jaw and hands clenched in unison. He left and felt his way to his room to pass out, murmuring to himself.

Dee murmured, "Asshole," underneath her breath then walked to her full- length mirror by her bed, pulled her shirt off as she turned her back to the mirror. Furious bruises started blooming across both of the areas where the drawers rammed into her. The one underneath her scapula was forming into a line while the other looked like an uneven splotch.

_Well fan- fucking- tastic!_

Dee turned back to her drawers and jammed the bathing suit she pulled out back into her cabinet. She doesn't want to have to explain to everyone how she got those bruises, it's not that she couldn't lie; no, she was good a lying, she just didn't want to repeat herself.

_Well… I can lie to everyone, but Cass. _

Cass is a horrible liar, so in return Dee promised to remain honest with her. It only seemed fair. But it was more than that. Even if she wanted to lie, the lie would never happen; she couldn't bring herself to lie to her. She huffed in annoyance, tugged off her denim skirt and let herself fall face first onto her bed, wrapping herself in the warmth of her mother's old quilted blanket to fall asleep.

* * *

Dee woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating on the bed next to her head. She stretched a bit and felt a dull flare of pain arise from the bruises on her back. _AGH! Should have iced that last night._

Ignoring the pain, Dee checks the message that can only be from Cass. Anyone else would have hellfire under their ass. The bright light of her phone made her squint and blink a few times before she was able to read: "BATHING SUIT."

She rolled her eyes and sat up on her elbows before she fell back down from the pain. _Yeah, I don't think this is gonna happen. _Dee typed her answer rapidly into the old Razor she'd bought at a pawn shop in freshman year: "Yeah, I don't know if I can make it."

Nuzzling her head against her pillow, she wondered if Sam has returned from his sleepover at Connor's house. "SAM, YOU BACK?"

She paused a bit for a response, closing her tired eyes even though she was probably not going back to sleep. After a minute or two she got a response from Cass, but not Sam. "Why not? What happened? You've been talking about it all week."

Sighing, she answered back. "I know. I just have something to deal with here. I'll go to the next one."

Okay, since Sam's not back, I have to do this. _Quick, don't think about it._

Still lying on her stomach, Dee moved her body parallel to the headboard so that when she got up her feet would touch the hardwood. Placing both palms on the bed, phone still in her hand, she pushed against it and kept her body rigid so she could feel as little as possible. Once up, she waddled to her drawers to look for shorts with pockets for her phone. Her phone vibrated again, but she puts it down on the top of her drawers, painstakingly putting on her shorts. Every movement of her right arm sent pinpricks of pain throughout the right side of her back, so she limited any major movements to her left hand, which made things incredibly difficult. After a few minutes of struggle, the shorts were on and Dee went to answer her now two texts; one from Sam, the other from Cass.

Sam: "I'll be back around noon, Connor's mom slept in late."

Dee turned her back in the direction of her mirror again. The bruises have gotten bigger and the centers of the bruises were slightly purple, but it wasn't the worst she'd gotten. She can hear her uncle's voice tellin' her to "quit her belly- achin'." She recalls the black bruises she got on her tail bone when her father ran into her making her fall on her ass and once when he pushed her and the floor was slippery, she hit the ground letting her chin breaking the fall. But that's not the thing that landed him in jail for six months. No, he was charged with possession of marijuana when the cops pulled him over for driving twenty miles UNDER the speed limit. All of this was going on just as she was starting high school. Needless to say, her first semester didn't start off golden, but she did come around. Life was better, her bruises healed; at least for six months, then her father came back. No matter how much better he was, Dee couldn't just forget the abuse she put up with.

Deep down she wanted some help with her current bruises, but she didn't want Sam to worry over something so insignificant, so Dee replied with a simple, "Kay."

Cass: "... Okay. Stay safe. "

She bit her lip. Dee never mentioned or allowed her home life to reach Cass. Any and all sleepovers were at Cass' house. She'd met her dad one time when he was semi-sober and she knew of Sam and Uncle Bobby but not her mother or the bruises her father used to leave her. No. Cass couldn't learn about this.

* * *

_Day before the start of senior year_

The beatings that summer were sporadic. Dee stayed home on those days where the bruises were visible, which she hated because it made her feel useless. She needed to do something about this, Cass was starting to worry. She wasn't sure what she would do, but it needed to stop, for Sam's sake at least. She got hit so often that she could barely feel it anymore. The hits felt more like distant aches or stings. Everything felt numb now. But it was never as bad as Sam. Often times he got the worst of it because "he was a man now and he could take it." That's a valid reason according to her father.

"That's bullshit."

"What was that?"

Dee quickly covered her mouth her hand. _Shit! that was aloud wasn't it!_

Her father downed his fifth glass of whiskey and stood slowly, glaring over to where Dee had been taking a break from her summer reading, lost in her thoughts on their old recliner.

"What did I tell you about swearin'?"

Dee's body went rigid at the tone of his voice. Here it comes...

"Yeah. Okay. I know. I was just thinking aloud." She got up to distance herself from her father's hot hand, motioning to move to the right but before she could get far enough, John roughly grabbed her arm and spun her around, not releasing his hold.

"And what exactly is so shitty," he hissed out inches from her face, the strong stench of Jack Daniels rolling over her face.

"Nh- **thing**," she spat back with a harsh tone.

John's glare flickered to rage. "Why you little..." Dee glared at him and slackened her face for the slap she saw approaching out of the corner of her eye. She didn't notice Sam grab their father's wrist and pull him away just in time; only succeeding in moving him an inch, but it was enough to stop the hit. In response, John twisted his wrist rapidly to grab Sam's wrist and push him down to land on the wooden and glass coffee table with a frightening crash that shattered the table into a million pieces, splinters and glass shards littering the floor. John reprimanded him to "stay out of this," while Dee screamed out Sam's name.

Every move Sam made gave him an extra cut on his arms and hands, making him moan in pain.

"Sammy! Don't move!"

In one swift movement, Dee wrenched out of her father's vice grip, stomped on his bare foot, and punched his gut causing him to jerk away and vomit out all of the alcohol and food in his system.

"BITCH! That's how you treat me?"He shouted hoarsely when he was done, wiping leftovers on his mouth with the back of his hand."I feed you! I put a roof over your head! You'd be some whore in the street if it wasn't for me! This'll teach ya!" John's fist collided into Dee's right eye, which she automatically followed with a hard kick to his groin. He toppled over head first into his barf and passed out on impact.

Dee immediately rushed to Sam's aide, pulling him up carefully, making sure he didn't cut himself too much.

"Are you okay, Dee?"

She smiled weakly. It would be like Sam to worry about others before himself. Even if his guts were spilling out he would help someone else out before himself. "Yeah, no, I'm fine Sam."

"Good," he answered softly.

They carefully walked over to the couch against the wall opposite the now ruined coffee table making sure that their bare feet didn't get cut. "Lie down on your stomach so I can clean you up."

As Sam laid down slowly, Dee worked her way to the bathroom, gritting her teeth as she walked around her father. _Okay, tweezers, cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, bandages, broom, call Bobby_. The typical list when it came to these situations.

She pulled out her phone from her front pocket and pressed Bobby's speed dial. It only took a few rings before he answered.

"What happened this time?" His gruff voice sounded frustrated but Dee knew Bobby genuinely cared about Sam and her. He was a better father to them than John ever was.

She reached into the cabinet under the sink, her phone pressed to her ear by her shoulder, checking off everything in her list, never stopping. "He pushed Sam into the glass coffee table and now he's all bloody."

"Christ," He huffed quickly, probably lifting his hat and rubbing his balding head. "Alright, I'm on my way. Stay out of his way." The jingle of keys audible through the phone.

"He passed out; I'm going to clean up Sam."

"Good. See ya." She snapped her phone shut and left the bathroom, glaring at her father as she walked around the sad lump on the ground that is his body to reach Sam who was splaying his limbs in all directions. The starfish-like position would be adorable if he wasn't covered with tiny cuts, glass, and splinters. Brushing away stray glass shards from the floor with the broom, Dee kneeled down next to the lump on the couch, resting the cleaning stuff next to her.

It really could have been worse. Only a few shards made it though his shirt so most of the damage was on his arms. A line of blood ran down Sam's arm from a medium sided shard wedged in his left arm and two more on his right, the rest were just scratches.

Tweezers in her right hand and a cotton ball in her left, Dee began to wiggle out the glass from her brother's arm, Sam groaning in discomfort. Dee just shushed him and focused on cleaning him up, the words her father yelled at her running though her head like a broken record. They were words she heard constantly; from him, from classmates, from herself.

_WHORE, GOOD FOR NOTHING, USELESS WHORE, YOU BREAK EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH, IDIOT._

The words rang in her head, fogging her vision. Only the splash of the rubbing alcohol from the falling bottle broke her revere. "Shit!" She picked up the bottle quickly, put it aside, and cleaned off what landed on her thighs with some of the cotton balls with a frustrated look on her face.

Sam turned his face slightly to the left to get a better look of Dee. "Are you sure you're alright Dee," he asked as to mean 'more than physically pained.'

"I'm fine! Would you get off my back?" Her voice sounding so aggravating and finite that the conversation ended. She continued to clean off his wounds and patch him up, Sam falling asleep by the time she finished. Shifting herself to a squatting position, Dee paused for a couple of seconds to take in her brother's scars, feel the sting in her swelling right eye, her father's dark aura behind her…; _this is too much_. She pinches the bridge of her nose and bites back the impending tears.

The rumble of Bobby's truck in her driveway snapped her back to focus. When Bobby entered the living room, letting himself into the house with the key her father gave him, Dee was sweeping the glass into a pile. She looked up to see Bobby's brow furrowed and lips pressed in a hard line, eyes wandering from Sam's back, to her bruising eye, to her father's yack-smothered face. He huffs and finally addresses the problem that has been lingering in the air all summer, "You know, just 'cause he is your old man, don't mean ya have ta put up with this."

Avoiding his pained eyes, Dee tried to swallow down the dryness in her throat. It doesn't work.

Bobby and she continue to clean up the living room in silence, Bobby cleaning up John and lugging him to the couch and Dee waking up Sam so they could go to Bobby's. They never stayed for the backlash; it was better not to risk it.

"Hey Sammy," she beckons him awake with a gentle shake on the shoulder, "Get up, Sam. Uncle Bobby is here, it's time to go. Do you need help?"

He blinks, shaking his head a bit. "Hmm? No." Surely the dark bruises and the cuts made it painful, but Sam got up, the grimace on his face was the only thing giving away the discomfort.

Once he was done with John, Bobby turn to face them, "Alright. You two ready?"

As much as she loved going to Bobby's place, she needed to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Her head was cluttered with thoughts rushing by like a tornado; only bits and pieces of each thought registered in her thoughts. Only one grabbed her attention:

_Cassie._

Dee took a deep breath to focus her thoughts to answer Bobby, exhaling slowly. "Hey, actually, can you drop me off at Cassie's? I promised I would sleepover at her house, since it is our senior year and all…," her voice coming out perfectly normal, like that wasn't a total lie.

Bobby didn't notice, or he just ignored it, making his way to the front door, "Okay. Sam?"

"No, I'm good," he answered following him out.

"I'll be right out," she notified them on the way up the stairs, "I just need to get my stuff."

Dee ran up the stairs, down the narrow hallway that lead to her room at the end of the hall. The door was open but she tripped over the hamper that Sam obviously put there for that exact reason. _Bitch._ She grabs her backpack, toothbrush, a change of clothes, and her heavy duty make up to see if she can fix her eye without people freaking out over it tomorrow. She kick the hamper out of her way, only successfully moving it an inch due to the junk in the way before running back down, out of the door, and jumping into the flatbed of Bobby's truck, not wanting to spend any more time there.

The thrumming of the engine filled her ears as Bobby backed out of the Winchester driveway heading north to Cassie's house, near the UK campus.

The day was relatively nice for mid-August, but as soon as Dee stopped moving she felt like she was suffocating, the emotional abuse barreling down on her like being caught in a rip tide.

Suddenly, Bobby smacked the side of the flat bed. "Ey."

Dee blinked, shaking her head slightly. It felt like hours before he pulled her out of the dream like state despite the short drive.

"You 'kay kid?"

Afraid that her voice might betray her, she simply nodded with a light smile. Even if Bobby didn't believe her, he didn't address it.

"Alright... Have fun," he answered dubiously.

Dee shuffled out of the truck. As she slowly walked to Cassie's door she heard Sam say goodbye and that he will see her tomorrow at school. _Heh, what a great way to start high school, scars down your arms..._ Dee bit her lip, her brow furrowing at anger, frustration, and sadness rushing through her simultaneously, the weight on her chest strangling her breath.

Dee stood outside for a bit before knocking, letting her brain memorize the door while it tried to send the signal to her hand. A few minutes, or hours Dee's mind is too frayed to take note of time, the door opened, without a knock, to a confused Cass on the other side.

The confused look quickly morphed to worry because she knew; she always knew something was wrong simply by one look at Dee's lost gaze, not to mention her black eye.

"What happened," she asked tersely.

Her voice broke through her thoughts, if only or a second; the clouded haze hidden in the back of her mind, ready to creep out at any second. She pressed her lips into a fine line and shifted her gaze away from her friend, wanting more than anything to avoid Cass' concerned eyes even though she can feel them on her, like she was trying to read her thoughts.

Cass stepped forward fluidly, leaving only a few inches between the two girls. Dee shuddered at the warmth of Cass' delicate fingers tenderly touching her wrist, the pad of her thumb softly stroking the inside of her wrist.

"Deanna..." Her voice was smooth and loving as she rested her other hand on her cheek, gently stoking her cheek bone underneath her bruised eye. "Please tell me what happened here."

She returned her gaze to the deep blue eyes in front of her; still and calming like the lake Bobby takes them fishing at when the weather's nice. You'd think that'd be enough to tell her everything she had been hiding from her, but she couldn't say it. Saying it out loud would make it real. "Cass…" Dee paused, running her fingers though her hair with her free hand, thinking of the right way to put it, " I… um… Me and Sammy had to leave the house for a little while." A sad smile flashed across Dee's face, leaving as soon as it arrived, hoping that that'd be enough. She didn't want to talk about it anymore.

When she felt the fingers touching her wrist slide down and tangle together with hers, she knew Cass understood. Her friend turned, entering her house with Dee in tow. Their hands never separating; neither saying a word.

* * *

Cassie took her inside, helping as much as she could with the black eye that was now a harsh purple hue. Dee just did as she was told the whole evening with no fuss, which worried Cassie more than the black eye or the sniffles she heard coming from the bathroom. She gave her space; she didn't want a repeat of what happened at the end of sophomore year when Bones died.

Dee felt like her emotions were eating her alive; pummeling her until she felt numb and exhausted.

_Why don't I just run? WHORE. I can't run, Sammy needs me. I can't leave. Can't leave. STUPID! Can't… SCREW UP! Can't... _

"Can't leave…" Dee whispered to herself. The two girls were sitting at the island in the kitchen drinking coffee. Upon hearing her, Cassie immediately turned her attention to her friend.

"What was that, Dee?"

Dee sat stiffly, hands clenching her coffee cup, jaw set, looking as if she wasn't breathing at all. Not responding to her question, Cassie tried again, "Dee, what can't-"

"I can't leave home, Cass, I can't," she answered brokenly. Cassie waited a breath to answer. She's been waiting all summer to find out what truly happened to Dee, even if it hurt her to see the yellowish remnants of old bruises on her friend every time they saw each other. The evidence was there but she had to wait for her.

"Why Dee?"

"Because Cass! Because!" She flashed a look to Cassie then back to the cabinets in front of her.

"Because I promised my mom I would take care of Sam!" She answered with a strong voice.

"Because even though he hurt me and Sam, he is still my dad! Because… I don't want to leave my mom behind…"

Her voice shrank again, shoulders slumping. This weakness wasn't like her and it killed Cassie to know that if she had done something about it earlier, Dee wouldn't be this broken and hollow. Guilt trickled down her throat and clenched at her heart.

"Cassie… I don't know what to do…"

Cassie stood up slowly, pushing her chair back, motioning to hug Dee even though she was not sure if she should. Instead she decided on placing a hand on her shoulder which grabbed Dee's attention.

"Dee, you are my best friend, you know that?" Cassie pausing when she nodded once, making sure that her eyes were on her. "Then you know that I love you. And you have to believe me when I say that I will help you get out of this, Deanna."

Cassie wasn't sure if Dee believed her, her facial expression remaining lost. Then after a few seconds Dee nodded, her lips pressed into a line meaning she was doubtful, but the nod was enough to know that she was willing to try.

The rest of the night they laid on Cassie's bed, Dee's head resting on Cassie's lap, watching _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ until they fell asleep.


End file.
